NA question hour: 69 private citizens received PM’s grants

Rs18.8m doled out by the premier since his tenure started.

ISLAMABAD: Sixty-nine private citizens have benefitted from the prime minister’s discretionary grants since Premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf came into office. The premier has given financial assistance worth Rs18.8 million to these people during his tenure thus far.

The top beneficiary of the grants was Ghazanfar Ali Jakhrani, a resident of DHA Phase V, Karachi, who received Rs2 million. On the other hand, Bibi Roveeda, a cancer patient under treatment at NORI hospital in Islamabad, received only Rs150,000.

During the National Assembly question hour session on Monday, the minister in-charge of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said in reply to a question asked by a member, “The prime minister can give ex-gratia payment to private citizens and organisations, which are normally not financed from public money.”

He said the amount was given in the form of cheques of hundred thousand rupees and more.

He added that such grants can be made to organisations like bar councils, which are the provincial governments’ responsibility, donations to schools, clubs, indigent individuals, charitable institutions, public servants and other individuals.

The minister added that the premier could also give this assistance as grants, which fall within the financial jurisdiction of the federal government. These can also be public sector organisations under their control, for which full or adequate budgetary provisions do not exist, the minister added.

Statistics provided by the PM’s secretariat stated that Rs500,000 was given to Mumtaz Begum, the widow of renowned poet Habib Jalib, a resident of Lahore. Another recipient, Samina Afzaal, received Rs600,000. PM Ashraf gave the Director General of the Pakistan Academy of Letters in Islamabad Rs216,000.

Five grants of one million rupees were also made. The recipients included ABA Innovations in Islamabad, Shafay Thobani, Thobson Technologies Inc in Karachi, Tamkanat Ara, a resident of Sector J Defence in Lahore and Muhammad Mohsin, a resident of Hafizabad.

Targeted killings

The NA question hour session also touched on the issue of targeted killing.

Sindh recorded the highest number of targeted killings at 108, in three months from August to October this year, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik in his written reply to a member’s question.

MQM lost the highest members in the killings at 19, while 9 Sunni Tehreek and five Awami National Party members were killed.

In 38 incidents of sectarian related killings, 25 Sunni/Deobandi, 11 Shia and two Ahmadi people were killed in Sindh. Among law enforcement agencies, the police force lost 22 personnel, Rangers lost three and Jail Police and Quick Response Police lost two and one officials, respectively.

Malik told the house that 34 people were killed in 30 targeted killing incidents in Balochistan.